10 on Tuesday Disneyland Pictures!

I just got home from spending a week and a half in California and Disneyland so this weeks 10 on Tuesday is going to be 10 pictures of 10 moments with my Family in California. It was so much fun that we didn't want to leave. But I came home to the biggest coolest surprise ever so that was awesome. But I will post that separate because it really deserves is own post.

Here are 10 pictures to show the fun places we have been. It was hard narrowing my 1,535 of trip photos taken down to only 10 to post.

The family meeting Mickey

And Minnie

(We got pictures with them in their Year of a Million Dreams clothes and Halloween outfits as well as regular outfits. Our kids got to see a lot of Mickey and Minnie this time)

Jesse, Grandma and my Kids at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego

We also went to Sea World but none of those pictures made my final 10. LOL

Meeting Snoopy at Knotts Berry Farm

(This is my mom and dad with my kids.)

Jesse and Will at the beach... Jaden Samantha and Garyn are already out into the waves you can kinda see them in the background.

There was much riding of rides.

Jaden and Samantha are in the back cart of this roller coaster.

There was also much waiting.

This is Grandpa with Will and my nephew Gabe, waiting for us to get off a ride. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for helping with the kids so much!

Garyn and Will in the stroller at Universal Studios in Burbank CA. Garyn with his favorite souvenir his Sponge Bob toys and Will bought a huge Dinosaur at the Jurassic Park Ride. It was almost as big as him. You should see him trying to carry it and walk. Too funny!

Something that we have never done before. The kids learned about the center spike so we made a point to go and find it. When Disneyland was constructed Walt Disney put a spike in the exact center of the park. It is under the walkway when you walk through Cinderella's Castle.

So here we are in the exact middle of Disneyland finding the golden spike!

The Goof with Goofy

And I know this makes 11 but I can't help it because it is Curious Will with Curious George and they both are just so cute and look so Innocent but are such little trouble makers. LOL

Wordless Wednesday - Mantha's new 'do

Today was picture day at school and thanks to Nikki for lending me her curlformers we did the cutest curly hair for Samantha. Here are the before and afters. I am so getting my own set of these!

Before

After

10 on Teusday week of Sept 9 - 16, 2008

Ten on Tuesday

1. Read Garyn "The Beauty and the Beast" book about 200 times this week. It's his new obsession since watching Kara and her family in the play on Labor Day.

2. Ran around like a Chicken with my head cut off for 2 days running errands. I don't know why but after working all night, taking 2 little kids from place to place just takes it out of me. I thought I was gong to collapse by the time I walked back in the door today.

3. Got the family yahoo group set up. Loving that!

4. Made some alligator bread to go with our lessons Sunday. The kids in our class loved it. We read them the "Spiritual Crocodiles" talk (condensed) by Boyd K. Packer and ate the bread with honey butter. YUMMY! Here is a picture of it and here is where you can find the talk.

5. I laughed until I almost cried watching Kenton, Thad, and Jesse trying to separate the Mommy Cow from her Calf in the field. I can't explain just how funny this was.. you just had to be there. Boy that was one MAD COW!

6. Helped my Mom make homemade peach ice cream and ate like 3 bowls. It was so delicious. (all I did was stir the ice.)

7. Watched "Definitely Maybe" and I really liked it. I would never let my kids watch it but it was still good.

8. Tried unbarring my self from under laundry mountain... 20 or so loads later and it is looking more like a mole hill now.

9. Me and Samantha and Grandma had a girls night out and went and had our nails done. Then another day I got a hair cut.

10. Grandpa took Jaden fishing with Cordell and his family one night and then Grandpa took Garyn and Will down to play at the lake today so that I could run a few of my errands kid free. Can't beat time with the grans!!! And it is much easier getting your transmission fluid changed without having 2 little kids at your feet. ;)

100th Post - 100 things about me

WOW I have already reached 100 posts on my blog so I am going to do 100 things about me. In no particular order just what comes to mind. Here goes

1. I am a bicentennial baby

2. I thought that was really cool growing up

3. I have 5 brothers and only 1 sister

4. My only sister is 9 yrs older than me

5. She is one of my best friends

6. Sometimes we growl at each other

7. Brothers are mean... but you love em anyway

8. I am lucky to have older brothers they are so protective even when they pretend they don't know you.

9. I am lucky to have little brothers cuz I am so protective even when I pretended I didn't know them. hehehe

10. My hubby only has 1 brother and 1 sister

11. His brother died

12. One of my brothers died 18 years ago

13. I still miss him.. but feel him around me every now and then

14. He was kind to me and would drive me anywhere I wanted to go. Most older brothers don't like a kid sister hanging around. He didn't mind.

15. I am so glad now because we had some fun times and some great talks.

16. He was a wild child

17. I named my William after Him

18. My son goes by Will my brother went by Bill or Billy when he was little

19. My son is a wild child

20. They are kindred spirits

21. Both of them hated to go shopping as babies.. Will still does.. Bill would still hate if he were here

22. I don't really like to shop but then I kinda do

23. I like to shop online and love a good bargain

24. I can get myself in trouble when I find a good deal by spending too much

25. I hate money... it runs our lives too much

26. All my kids have names that are special and they are each named after amazing people

27. Will is named after my brother mostly and then my grandfather, my dads grandfather, my dads uncle, my husbands uncle, and his great grandfather and so on.. It is a long time family name

28. I feel blessed that we got to use it for our son

29. Garyn i s named after his grandfathers on both sides

30. Samantha is named after both of my husbands step parents. They are amazing people. One influenced my husband life in a major way before passing away. And the other is an amazing grandma that would roll over backwards to keep people happy. Samantha is a kindred spirit with her, she was aptly named.

31. Jaden came with his name. He is named after his daddy.

32. My 2nd daughter was going to be named after my Grandma and my Husbands Mother.

33. Will was supposed to be a girl but he came as a boy and surprised me. So now I didn't get to use my name.

34. Jesse was DONE after having 3 kids, then we felt like there was still a daughter out there.

35. But she didn't come ... we got Will instead. I am so glad he is a boy. My 2 little boys are so much fun. Wild hogs but fun wild hogs that I adore.

36. So now Jesse is really really done... so much for another girl.


37. Samantha was such an easy baby


38. She was my reward for not killing Jaden... he was a very hard baby. I wonder what my reward will be for not killing Will? Lots of $$ I hope. hahaha


39. Samantha has always been such a girly girl. All pink and full of stink. LOL


40. Jaden is such an easy kid now that he is older.

41. He is always worried about.. not really impressing people.. but in not disappointing them. He is a little rule follower at school and elsewhere. Not always at home of course. LOL

42. I was a stinker as a teenager if any of my kids try 1/2 of what I did I will kill them. Or uhm, well ok at least lock them in a cage.


43. Garyn is a rule breaker and can talk himself out of anything

44. He is cute and he knows it ... uses it to his advantage.

45. He will probably be a lawyer some day.. talking himself and others out of things.


46. None of my kids look very much a like

47. I take tons of pictures of my kids I mean tons like thousands every year


48. I love to scrapbook (as if you didn't know that)

49. Recently I have taken to digital scrapbooking.


50. I don't really scrapbook much anymore

51. I work for scrapbook companies and sold scrapbook supplies for over 10 yrs.

52. I love not working for a scrapbook company because I don't feel guilty for buying products from and and all companies that I like.

53. But I really miss my scrapbooking business in so many ways

54. I can't pass up a freebie digital scrapbook download

55. I have become addicted to downloading... I download and never use I am just a download junkie.

56. Jesse got me a new hard drive to store my pictures and digital stuff on. He calls it my "Scrapbook Porn Addiction" He is right. LOL

57. I easily get addicted to collecting things. Especially craft things.. cute paper is the worst.

58. I like to watch kids shows. Me and the kids can watch Disney Channel all day.

59. I like the cheesy Disney Movies and the Teen Chick Flicks.

60. This drives Jesse nuts!

61. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Halloween!!!! I will get to see Disneyland all decked out for Halloween this year. I can't wait!!!

62. I think it's the candy that I love... or maybe the crafts... or maybe the parties... Oh it's just Halloween. LOL But I do like candy. hehe

63. I love Christmas when it is filled with the Spirit and its about Christ but don't really love all the fuss and stress of it.

64. I also really like Valentines.. not the holiday as much as the cute pink and red things in the stores. I bought lost of stuff for Samantha's room and scrapbook room last yr. around valentines. If you decorate in pink or red that's the time for find cute things.

65. I have good intentions but do not follow through very well.

66. I am left handed and married a left hander. So far we only have one left hander. (we can't tell with Will yet)

67. I met my husband 2 days after High School Graduation. He had this thing after returning home from his mission that he would not date anyone in high school. So we talked on the phone several times and met for the 1st time after I was officially graduated.

68. I knew on our 3rd date he was the one

69. It scared the crap out of me. I decided I was gong to tell him I didn't want to go out again.

70. I figured if it was meant to be he would come back around in a few years when I was ready to get married. I was wrong!!

71. Our moms set us up on a blind date. I think they knew before we did that we would end up Happily Ever After.

72. He didn't "know" it as quickly as I did... Men are so slow. It takes him life or death to realize he can't live without me.

73. He was following me home one night not long after we started dating and I hit some horses.

74. He said the 1st thing he thought when he saw my car halt to a stop and the cloud of dust was "OH no I am not sealed to her!" He knew right then he wanted to be with me forever. Sweet huh? even if it did take him to think I had died before he could commit. LOL

75. He got a ring proposed about a week later. We had only dated 6 weeks. So really didn't take him long I just like to tease him. Since it was a whirlwind courtship. hehehe

76. We were married 4 months later in November.

77. So yes I graduated high school and got married in the same year. That was 1994 by the way.

78. I was 18 he was almost 22

79. everyone told us we were crazy... the were stupid you can't tell someone else what is right for them when you really don't know. Showed them didn't we?

80. I have never ever regretted getting married so young. In fact I am very grateful. I belive all things work out the way they are meant to one way or another.

81. I had Jaden when I was 20. I like being a young mom. I figured I could start early and get all my kids by the time I was 30.

82. I don't feel as young now. I had Will at 29 just 3 months before I turned 30. Barely met my goal.

83. I had a really hard time getting pregnant with my last 2 kids and harder pregnancy's another reason getting married and starting young was better for me.

84. I have been married almost 14 yrs

85. I was a size 2 on my wedding day

86. Now I would kill to be a size 12 LOL

87. After I had Jaden and had gained a ton of weight I was depressed about being a size 10. That makes me laugh now.

88. I am much much bigger than that now and figure what the hell? This is who I am Large and in Charge baby!

89. I live in the same little farm town I grew up in.

90. Actually built a house across the street from my parents

91. Yes I am a total Momma's girl. But hey, my mom is awesome so there!

92. I am not very competitive and get bothered sometimes by people that are

93. I have been given so many blessing and when I get depressed I want to kick my own butt because I really have so much to be thankful for.

94. When I was a kid I use to get so bothered because my mom would make me wear dresses to school.

95. I think I drove her nuts because she would get me all cutsie'd up and then I would go run with the boys and spear carp, play in the river, catch frogs, etc and come home a dirty mess with burrs in my long pony tail. I have no idea how I got such a prissy daughter but I love every bit of her girly'ness!

96. I had long long blond hair that was super thick. The teachers at my school called me Barbie.

97. My Hair isn't so long now or so blond but it is still thick. Now I like to keep it kinda reddish.

98. I love love love Disneyland and all things Disney. My dream vacation would be the Sand and Sea Walt Disney World Cruise. (I will do this some day) I know big dreams huh? LOL

99. I love Mexican food

100. I feel like my 100 things are stupid but I am glad that I did some writing about myself for once.

Wordless Wednesday

It ain't over till it's over... and we are not ready for Summer to be over.

Mantha diving at the Family Reunion Party

My Mommy Cat who has decided that the now lives across the street and down a field at my Dad and Mom's house... look what she did... she snuck into their hot tub room and had 7 baby kittens! Sorry Grandma and Grandpa!

Any one want a kitten? or 2? or 6?

10 on Tuesday! 1st edition

OK so this weekend one of my cousins invited me to join in on the 10 on Tuesday challenge. Here is how it works: each Tuesday I will list 10 things we have done this past week. Hopefully other than work and sleep or rather wish I was sleeping. (or 10 thoughts that I want to list. LOL) It's kinda like a weekly snapshot and I think it's a great idea so I am looking forward to joining in and also to getting better connected with my family as we are all going to be doing 10 on Tuesday.... So here goes my 1st edition of 10 on Tuesday



Week of Sept. 2nd - 9th:

1. Took Samantha to her Riding Lessons and Dance Lessons

2. Picked up Jaden from Play Practice. He is in 101 Datamations and just found out today he is being cast as a police man. He is very excited. I let him walk with his cousin after school. It was stressful for me. I sent him with my Cell phone and made him call me 3x's. Yup I am a stressy mom like that. And yes he is 12 and yes when I was 12 my mom would let me walk all over town but nope I am not as relaxed as she is.

3. Didn't realize that Garyn had homework last week. I guess I thought she hadn't started it yet and I admit instead of actually checking the backpack I asked "Did your teacher send home any papers in your backpack?" and forgetting that Garyn is only 5 and not one of the big kids I believed him when he said nope.

4. Realized that we hadn't done homework so today we did all the Homework for last week and this week until now. Nice already slacking and we are on like the 3rd week of school. I am sure the kindergarten teacher is ultra impressed. LOL

5. Shopped with Helen to find the perfect gift for my Sister and her family who just lost their mom/mother in law/grandma. This shopping took 2 trips on 2 different days but we found the perfect wreath that matches their house and that they could keep for years after the funeral.

6. Attended the funeral. (I already posted about it)

7. Went to our Family Reunion. (already posted that too) It was lots of fun even if I was like forever late and had a corn on the cob disaster trying to get out the door. Note to self DO NOT use the gray cooler to take Hot Corn on the Cob in anymore!!!!

8. Went to lunch with Jesse one day last week when he was working in our county and close enough to take us to lunch. Yummy Mexican food. Just us and the little boys. They loved it and felt special, to get to have lunch with Daddy. He hasn't been able to do that much anymore since he is usually in SLC or further now.

9. Got to IM with Marla for several hrs one night while at work. It was great to talk to her, she is such an amazing person and a fantastic mom, with such an amazing testimony. I want to be more like her and love when we get a chance to chat. I miss not seeing her as often

10. Became Medicated and Motivated... This schedule of staying up all night to work and then trying to sleep an hr or 2 at a time all day is killing me. My Dr. sent me home with some meds. designed for shift work... I took one and boy oh boy I felt awake and alert all day. It was great. I finally was able to get some things done like catching up homework and laundry and etc. The bad thing... I couldn't sleep when I did have 3 hrs time to sleep before work tonight. UH OH! YIKES! So I have been up since 7:30 am and am still going.... I don't get off till 7 am Wed. morning... who knows when the sand man will find me again.

Hope you all had a great week!

Weekend Wonders

So this weekend I attended a funeral. My Sisters MIL passed away. The funeral was beautiful and when I came home I told my hubby that people should attend a funeral once every 6 months just as way to really stop and appreciate life and reflect on how you are handling the truly important things in this life. I know it helped me want to be a better person remembering this great lady and all the service that her life entailed. You can read about her on my sisters blog it's a great post that makes ya think. Not that I want to have someone I know die every 6 months but you know what I mean.

Anyway ... I did ok until I saw my nieces crying. That just breaks my heart for them. These are my girls and I love them so much and know just how much they are going to miss their Grandma. She is in a better place but it is still so hard to loose a loved one and especially a Grandma when you are so young. My Grandmothers both passed away about 4 yrs ago and my heart still aches. I miss them so much too. I am so thankful to know that we will see them again and that a family will be together forever!

Then on Saturday we canned Salsa. I love canning with my husband. It is just a fun thing for us to do together. I ended up taking a few hrs off work so that I could stay in the kitchen and help finish it up and it was really nice to just spend time working and chatting and laughing together. We got about 30 jars done and every single one sealed. We decided the funnest part of canning is counted how many "pops" we hear so we know they are sealed. LOL Then they still didn't need me at work so I got to sleep a few hrs till the infomercials started and I logged in for a few hrs and then the best part... Jesse let me sleep till almost noon Sunday!!! Woo Hoo much needed sleep. I feel so spoiled.

We didn't go to church because it was stake conference and I needed my sleep and hate spending 2hrs keeping the little ones quiet. So when I finally hauled my butt out of bed we went to a family reunion for my Dad's family. It was a blast! It was at his cousins house and the kids got to swim. (pictures coming soon) I was exhausted after chasing the kids in the pool both Garyn and Will wanted to hang on me, until Garyn decided he could swim on his own. He is a pretty good swimmer actually. And I got hooked up with some of my cousins blogs and have decided to start participating in 10 on Tuesdays... You will see my 1st one this Tuesday.

Then is was home to get the last of homework done, kids bathed, fed and in bed and then I was off to the office to work and here I am at 5 am wondering if it will be worth trying to sleep for an hr after I get off before waking the kids up for school or it I should just stay up the extra hr and get something done so that I am not a zombie getting them out the door to school. hummm... The real question is if I miss the chance at an hr of sleep when will the next chance be? With my life and my 4 kids I never know when I will get to sleep. I think I will take the hr.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Ok well it was Wednesday when I started my shift and since I am not off for another hr and 1/2 it is still wordless Wednesday to me.

Beautiful Cousin Savannah and Will at the Labor Day Parade... before the rain began.

Playing Tag... Here goes

List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag five other people. Leave a comment for the people you tag so they know they have been tagged. Okay, here goes...

3 Joys?
1. Spending time with my family. Especially taking vacations. Would love to when I am older be able to take my kids and their kids on fun vacations. I don't think this will be possible but I am still dreaming.

2. I just really enjoy a good movie. One of my favorite things it Thursday nights.. It's our "Date Night" and more than not that ends up with us at a movie.

3. Hanging out with friends chatting and giggling all night long and especially if we are scrapbooking or making something fun.

3 Fears?
1. Loosing a child. I don't know how I could ever live after that. I watched my mom do I have watched the pain left after my MIL did it. I have been there for friends that have had to do it. They are all so strong, I am not. I admit that I don't know how the sun ever comes up again after that. Truth is I fight depression and have most my life, and I fear that would be the final straw for me.

2. Loosing my ability to communicate. I fear getting old and having a stroke or something that makes it so that I have to live in body that is a prison.

3. I fear that my kids will loose their way and that Satan will drag them down in the depths of darkness that he creates so prevalently in this world. I fear that my abilities as a mother will fall far to short for what they need to have the strength that they need in this world. I hope and pray that they will feel the love of Jesus Christ and that his love will give them the strength that will be enough. I know that he can fill in for the shortcomings that I have. I just hope they listen to the feelings when it comes.

3 Obsessions/Collections?
1. HA HA HA I collect everything. I can not throw things away. I have a bunch of my toys from when I was a kid. They all have meaning to me so I just can't toss them. They are all in plastic toes in storage. Dumb but I like knowing there are there. I horde and I know it. I have tons of old things from my Grandma's too. I am sick and need help. LOL

2. Scrapbook and Craft Stuff.... More than I even want to admit to. And I just keep on buying more.. Help I can't stop..... Hubby says when I die and after the funeral he is going to have it all set up and just draw back the curtain and begin the bidding. Want a good deal on old craft and scrap crap? Just come to my funeral. His big plan?? To pay off my house with the money from the auction. LOL probably have enough too...... LOL

3. I obsess over all kinds of stupid stuff. I can never get to sleep at night even though I work till after 5 am. I still lay in bed and obsess over stupid crap that I probably can't change. I hate being so disorganized all the time. I spend too much time organizing little things like in the closets short sleeve shirts then long sleeve then dressy then t's etc. and then I am too freaking ADHD to get to the other stuff and actually pick up. My house is always a mess and I freaking hate it!!! And the worst is I am so tired all the time that now when I could clean I usually sleep. grrrr... see obsessing right now!

3 Surprising Facts about me?
1. My husband is done having kids. I hate being done having kids, but I like having a husband more. We need him for the kids we already have. LOL And the truth is I am a psycho mom that doesn't even have patience for the 4 I have and I know it. But I love them and feel that I do have more love to go around.

2. I believe in love at 1st site. I think that sometimes our souls remember someone from before we came to this earth or that when we meet someone we can just know that they will be an important part of our lives. I knew the 3rd time I saw my husband that he was the one. I have never doubted it since. Even when I have wanted to strangle him. We truly had a fairytale courtship and engagement. And I still feel like a princess. . . well most the time.

3. I can't think of anything good so I am taking Crazymama's confession since it is true for me too. And it's about time I confess: I have never read the whole Book of Mormon cover to cover. I have almost but yet never finished it. Now don't judge me. You may be like my hubby who says "How can you have faith in something you haven't read?" And yet I know it is true and have felt the spirit of Christ in the stories on those pages. I knew it one day and that is all there is to it. I can't deny those feelings and I just plain didn't have to read the whole thing to know. But I do know that it is important to study it more and one day I will finish it.

So I am tagging... Amy, Kerri, Heidi, Marylyn, and Janet, and Marla.

Beauty And The Beast!

This week we went to see the play Beauty and the Beast, with my Mom for her 63rd birthday! The kids loved it. It was extra special because we know so many of the people in the play... My sister has 5 kids (all of them girls by the way). And this summer they auditioned and 4 of the kids plus her and her hubby were in the play. What a fun way to spend time together as a family huh!? Her 16 yr old didn't try out because she was busy with Drill Team. Both my sister and her hubby were Drama Majors and there is major Drama at their house on a regular basis. With that many girls can you imagine? LOL Here are some pictures that we snapped of the play. If you would like to tell them how Fabulous they look hop on over to her blog here.

Erika the youngest of the 5 girls.

The cousins checking Erika's costume after the show.

She is the most adorable sugar spoon I have ever seen!

Necia was a plate. She had to dance.. even with a huge plate strapped to her. She is the Same age as Jaden and so I cousin Anaya, so we got a 12yr olds picture with the plate.

The 14 yr old was a rug. She is a fabulous rug. She hides in this thing and really brings it to life. It has to kill her arms keeping them stretched out the whole time like that. Man can this girl dance. She is mondo talented and is just plain fabulous! Here she is inside the rug getting sat on by the plate sister. LOL And here is the fabulous rug showing us her pretty face and posing by the freaky gargoyles that are her friends. GO JADA! You rock girl!

And this is the next sister that didn't do the play because she has been busy all summer with Drill Team. But I had to put this cute picture of her with Garyn since she is so cute and hey being there to cheer the rest of the family on is a pretty big job. Garyn loves Sierra, she has always had a way with kids. She is going to be supermom some day.

Here is Kaila she is the oldest of the 5 girls. She was cast as a silly girl. And in this blond wig and dress she says she is more of a floozy girl. LOL Well here she is with out the floozy wig and yup pretty hot huh!? She is one of the funnest teenagers I have ever known. She is an absolute beautiful and fun girl. UGH! It freaks me out that this is her senior year. YIKES!!! LaFou, Garyn, and Kaila the Silly Girl

I have to say that who ever this kid is that played LaFou was amazing! He did such a great job. He was my favorite one, other than my family that is. Garyn thought he was "funny" so we had to get a picture with him too.

And now for the Parents:

The Mom: Here's my sister. She has directed plays for about as long as I can remember. She is a drama teacher and the kids love her. She is one of the best teachers in the whole county. And this year she decided to come out of the directors chair and be "in" a play. She played Madame de la Grande Bouche aka the wardrobe, or as Garyn says "the dresser" She did such a great job. I just feel bad I got her in her human clothes and didn't get a single picture of her in her dresser. Crap!
The Dad... in full stage make up hehehe! Can you tell Garyn was really getting into these character pictures? Here he is with Uncle Steve a.k.a. Gaston! HOLY MOLY did he do a great job. WOW and WOW he was amazing. I have to say I have seen him in many plays but this was his best roll yet. And he is up there dancing and singing and you would never in a million years have looked up on that stage and thought he was a 40 something yr old dad of 5 kids.

Samantha with Belle who was played by a girl also named Samantha. Sorry no picts of the beast he didn't have his costume on afterwards.

Garyn was having a total blast getting pictures with the characters. He loved the gargoyles and thought they were "cool" and he kept having a fit about getting a picture with Belle so we went back and got one. I think he thought she was cute. He was acting all shy which is not like him. LOL His Belle picture is at the top.

If you read this whole thing you deserve a prize... go to your kitchen and find some chocolate. LOL

Garyns 1st day of Kinderdarten!

Wednesday was Garyns 1st day of Kindergarten

He was so excited to start. This past week has been driving him nuts with the big kids going everyday while he had to say home another week.

He was so excited that he could not get to sleep on Tuesday night and yet Wednesday morning he popped out of bed like he had been asleep for 2 days.

Here he is on his way out the door. Bright eyed and bushy-tailed.

Chatty Chatty Mr. McChatChat.

He waited with the big kids for the bus to come.

You would have thought that the bus was a roller coaster ride as excited as he was to be getting onto it with them. Jesse snapped the perfect picture ... Off he goes my little boy is going to Kindergarten!

After the bus left I dressed Will and we jumped in the car and we headed to the school. We got stuck waiting for a train that was stopped on the tracks blocking the way into town. Grrrrr. I was totally stressed that we were late just sure that Garyn was going to be freaking out. (truth is I was lucky to get there alive since I was driving on 2hrs of sleep after working all night.) And when I did arrive at the school look at what I find. This smiling face working on one of the stations. He didn't even miss me. LOL

The first thing he does is pulls out a sticky note from his pocket to show me his lunch number. He doesn't get to eat lunch at school but he thought is was super cool that I put $$ in his account so that he could eat breakfast there. Jaden and cousin Necia took him to the cafeteria for a 1st day of school breakfast. He said it was scrambled eggs and toast, for all that want to know.

(Yes I totally pay for my kids to eat school breakfast, when they want it.... if you worked graveyards wouldn't you? Mornings are way tooooo hard!)

So we did the rest of his stations together and here is how I left him... concentrating really hard on drawing a picture of himself. How do I know he is concentrating? Notice the tongue sticking out? That is how you know when he is concentrating. Cute huh?

(The girl next to him is our neighbor that built a new house the same time we did this year.)

And this is him getting off the Kindergarten Bus and coming home.

Looks like a nice 1st day? I think YES!

He was grinning from ear to ear.

I know, that is just the cutest Kindergartner that I have ever seen!!

(this year..hehe!)

And after Garyn was off the bus in in the house Will was still trudging down the drive way wearing Garyn's back pack, pretending to go to school. Who wouldn't want to be like a big brother that is that cute? hahaha

Ok, well they are both cute, I know. And No, I am no bias!! LOL

Jaden's 1st adventure with Young Mens

Now that Jaden is 12 he gets to go to Young Men's or Mutual which it the Youth Group for the teenagers in our church. For his 1st activity they met at the church and then went and did a service project of stacking firewood for a widow in our ward (congregation). After the work was done it was tie to play... so they took the boys out on the lake for some fun Water Skiing. Poor Jaden has never been water skiing and he didn't get up on the wake board very well. But he still had a blast and thought is was a pretty cool 1st activity. This week he gets to go rock wall climbing. Pretty cool! He is gong to love this! How did he get so grown up so fast? It seems like yesterday they were handing him to me in the delivery room.

Jaden is 12, A very BIG deal!

Jaden turned 12 this month and for him this was a BIG deal! He has been so excited for his birthday he even made a little calendar to hang in his room that had numbers to pull off for each day. We did lots of fun parties for him. (pictures below) But the crowning event was Sunday Aug 17th at church when he was ordained by his dad to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He is such a great kid and we are so very proud of him. He was so cute preparing for his interview with the Bishop. I think he was expecting a quiz on how much he knows about the gospel cuz he kept asking me questions for weeks. I kept telling him not to worry so much and that he was just fine. He has always been like that. He is such a good kid he just wants to be the best he can.

Honestly I have no idea how I got a kid that is such a strong young man. He has an amazing ability to choose the right. And he worries about his loved ones when they makes choices that he knows are not right. (believe me, I have had many a lessons from him about not swearing. LOL) And even though I still am not old enough for him to be 12 I am very very proud of him. The day they ordained him we all got a chance to tell him how we feel about him and his choices. It was so cool. There was such a special spirit in the room with us. I wish I would have written down all the nice things people said to him. He was beaming from ear to ear.

This last Sunday he was able to serve the Sacrament. He was once again so nervous that he would do something wrong. Of course he did just fine. He did giggle a little when he got to his best friends row. He said "Kaden and his mom were trying not to laugh so then I was trying not to laugh. So I just quit looking at them" He is a hoot. This next week he gets to collect the fast offerings and for that he is super excited!

For any one that is not a member of the LDS faith here is some info on the Aaronic Priesthood
In the LDS Church today, worthy male members may receive the Aaronic Priesthood beginning at age 12. These young men, typically ages 12–17, receive many opportunities to participate in sacred priesthood ordinances and give service. As they worthily fulfill their duties, they act in the name of the Lord to help others receive the blessings of the gospel.

More on my faith: http://mormon.org/mormonorg/eng/ or http://lds.org

I hope he can continue to make good choices and be as strong as he has been. He is an amazing person. And also because if he is a teenager like I was... I will lock him in a cage and throw away the key. LOL

Now for the Birthday Festivities:

Of course we had a big family and cousins party. For this we went to the pool.
Jaden, my other kids and the cousins enjoying the sun.

Jaden and Cousin Necia checking out his new long board that he got.

His other favorite gift... he put together all his birthday money and bought himself
a Digital Video Camera. (using dad's employee discount of course) LOL Spoiled Kid!

We went Bowling with some of his best friends.
More pictures of the friend party. (notice that we cut off the blond hair so it was just tips by the time we did pictures at the church and for school to start)
We also had the Grandma's and Grandpa's all go to dinner with us at Brick Oven. YUMMY!!!
This was his special request, and that we got a baby sitter for the little kids so it was special just for him.

Happy Birthday Young Man!!!

Last year to be a kid.. next year he is officially a teenager. YUCK!

Wordless Wednesday Back to School

Missing Umph... Reward Offered

I have lost my Umph... that's about all I have to say. Have you ever lost your umph? Where did you find it? Is mine with yours? If you see it please send it home to me and you will get a reward. I can't tell you what it is cuz I have no umph to think up a stupid reward for finding my umph....... hum...Umph-less and blah, blah, blah........ Maybe I will update soon.

Well today I did take the kids to the school open house, swimming, and out to dinner, and then for last minute school shopping so I guess that's good. Just not feeling it. KWIM?